Author
Topic: 50 Sen 1948 Year 23 - Color Variety (Read 380 times)

I recently came across this bronze colored example of this 50 sen coin. I've placed it next to a brass colored version which I have for comparison. Does anyone know of this as a variety or mint error? Thank you.

The brass colour is the original. The red colour has come about by a chemical reaction of the copper. I have seen a number of such discoloured coins as I inherited a collection that had been stored for decades in 5 x 5 cm bags made with bleached paper*. The paper bags sometimes had a "shroud of Turin" like impression of the coin. The red is very hard to impossible to remove on worn coins, but unc coins can often be cleaned with a double soda solution. The "new metal" look will not return, though.

Peter

* In most markets, bleached paper is now banned

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An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.